This move resembles a push-up. Hands on the handles, palms down, just wider than shoulder-width apart. Keep your hands more down by your chest and less up by your shoulders — your elbows will not be pointing directly out 90 degrees from your body, but more like 45 degrees or so back and down. This takes stress off the shoulders & prevents impingement, while keeping the work more where we want it — pecs (& triceps & anterior delt). Your range of motion (ROM) will also be greater.

Once your hand are in a push-up position with elbows bent & tension on the strap, come up on the balls of your feet and hit a strong plank. This is a major CORE exercise as well! Keep your elbows in that push-up position (we call it ‘setting your end point’) and start walking your feet back to the anchor. You’ll feel your muscles heat up with tension. When the tension feels like it’s enough, stop your feet and work the press. Push yourself up & lower the whole body down with control.

Cues to use: Maintain the plank (no sagging or flexing at the hips). Staying on the balls of the feet will help this. Squeeze your glutes. Keep your chin away from your chest. Make sure the straps aren’t “scraping” your arms. Watch and make sure the hands don’t drift too far in front of you, or too wide. A little shaking in the upper body is normal, but if you’re shaking too much, take a step away from the anchor & reset.

Try these for 45 seconds, or a nice slow set of 10. If you’ve added on enough of your bodyweight, you’ll feel it!

I used to do #TRXTuesday features all the time. So a few weeks ago I decided to bring it back w/ a little change — audio cueing. I figured it would be good practice for my presentation skills (and editing skills), both of which are useful for my daytime & extracurricular jobs. So — welcome to the revamped TRX Tuesday, where I’ll take you through a #TRX move in one minute or less!

First, this week: TRX Step Back & Balance Lunges. Strap should be mid-length, and you’ll be standing up facing your anchor point.

For the step-back lunge (great option for TRX newbies or those with lower joint issues): Start with feet under the hips, elbows under the shoulders, neutral grip. Pick your base leg (right leg shown here), shift your weight to it, and then step back w/ the opposite leg, lowering down into a full lunge with the back toe on the floor.

Cues to use: tall posture, use the straps to help keep your chest up (avoiding a large hinge in the hips). Knees should both be roughly 90 degrees. Arms should be fairly extended. Drive through the front foot as you stand up, bringing the opposite knee up if you can (otherwise, tap foot to floor).

To make this a balance lunge, just keep your back toe OFF the floor when you step back into the lunge. Instant advanced mod! Watch your hip hinge if you do these — people tend to immediately drop their chest toward the floor in an effort to stay balanced, but you want to keep the same tall posture, same degree of bend in the knees, & same arm extension up top (no “hugging” your arms in close — avoid a death grip on the handles).

I like sets of 8 or 30 seconds per leg for these. Give ’em a try & remember that ***form is everything***!